East Idaho Credit Union expands range

After 83 years in eastern Idaho, East Idaho Credit Union will open a branch in Pocatello.

The credit union originally had a field of membership of Idaho Falls postal workers but now accepts anyone who works in Bonneville or Bannock counties, as well as several others in eastern Idaho, said Toby Hayes, vice president of marketing.

Currently, the credit union has nine branches: Two in Idaho Falls, and one each in Ammon, Arco, Challis, Rexburg, St. Anthony, Salmon and Shelley.

“Idaho Falls has been our base, and we’ve expanded into smaller rural communities in eastern Idaho,” Hayes said. “Pocatello is really the only place that we haven’t had a branch presence. As we’ve grown, it’s made more sense for us to strategically expand into the Pocatello market and make more of a foothold in eastern Idaho.”

In addition, the credit union’s members have requested it for a couple of years, he said.

The new branch will be across the street from the Pocatello Costco and is expected to break ground later this fall, with completion next summer, Hayes said. It will be about 2,500 square feet and will house six employees. The branch manager will be Brandon Rolfe, who was promoted from the company’s e-commerce department.

In addition, the credit union is also building a new Rexburg branch that is intended to be in a more convenient location than the existing one. “We’ve been in Rexburg in a couple of different locations since 1984,” Hayes said. “The location we’re in now is in the far south end of town, and not where the town has expanded.”

The branch will be moving closer to downtown, which is seeing development, Hayes said. Ground has broken and construction has started. The credit union hopes to open the new branch by the end of this year or early next year, he said.

The builders are SCC Construction (Shane Webb) of Rexburg, and the architect is Case, Lowe & Hart, Inc., of Ogden, Utah. Steve Peterson is the lead architect on the Rexburg project, Hayes said.

The credit union doesn’t yet have a branch in Blackfoot, but it may in the future, Hayes said.

Founded in 1935, East Idaho Credit Union is about to reach $300 million in assets, Hayes said. It has about 120 employees among nine branches.

East Idaho Credit Union isn’t the only credit union keeping its eye on Pocatello. Earlier this year, Idaho Central Credit Union – based in Chubbuck, with four branches within 25 miles of Pocatello – bought 1.58 acres in the planned Northgate Pocatello-area development, but doesn’t have specific plans for the property yet. ICCU also has back office facilities in the region, including a Chubbuck data center that will hold more than 380 desks.

Northgate is a public-private partnership involving project leader Millennial Development Partners and Portneuf Development on the private side and the cities of Pocatello and Chubbuck, Bannock County and the Idaho Transportation Department on the public side. The development proposes up to 10,000 new homes and a 1-million-square-foot technology park, along with an array of retail and office opportunities for the north edge of Pocatello and east edge of Chubbuck.

Counties in eastern Idaho are among the fastest-growing in the state. According to presentations during the Eastern Idaho Outlook economic summit, Teton was the fastest-growing of the 14 counties in the area, having increased 14.5% since 2010, the fourth highest increase in the state. Jefferson was fifth, and Bonneville seventh.

Census figures released in April indicate Pocatello grew from 85,641 to 87,138, an increase of 1,497, or 1.7%, ranking it No. 369 in population, No. 180 in growth numbers, and No. 48 in percentage growth nationwide. Rexburg actually declined from 52,488 to 52,472, a loss of 16 people, ranking it No. 191 in 2017, No. 193 in 2018, No. 282 in numeric growth and No. 279 in percentage growth.